USA - The Who's 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia has been reprised in a multimedia display on the band's latest outing. The 37 date tour, which began in November and runs through the end of February, celebrates the four-decade anniversary of the album's release and marks the band's first major North American tour in four years.
Even long-departed drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle make cameo appearances, joining remaining original members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Entwistle's virtuosity and famous bass solo on "5:15" are showcased in live footage shot at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000, which streams onscreen. They also pay tribute to the late Keith Moon; their performance of Bell Boy incorporates video footage of a 1974 performance, with Moon's vocals dubbed in from the LP (one of the only times in Who history his vocals were heard on an album).
The Quadrophenia tour also reunites the band with production partners Eighth Day Sound, who have worked with the iconic rockers on their last three major tours. This time out they're carrying a pair of SD7 desks (each running the latest MACH III software) for FOH and band monitors, plus an SD-Rack at FOH and a d&b audiotechnik J-Series PA. The audio crew is comprised of longtime Who FOH engineer Robert Collins, Simon Higgs on monitors with support from Eighth Day's senior audio engineer Mark Brnich, and sound techs Drew Marbar and Carl Popek.
Collins started with the band in the late 1990s-early 2000s, and has also worked with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend on their solo projects, trading tours with engineer Paul Ramsey in between tours with Eric Clapton and others. "Paul used to look after me; he was my systems tech on The Who. I made sure the team was put in place, you know, 'cause an English band should have an English engineer-or British, I should say. I'm Welsh, though. So here I am back. They wanted to get me back for this, and luckily it worked out timing-wise with the schedule. It's worked out with Eric so I can go do that as well this year."
A relative newcomer to the SD7, Collins is certainly no stranger to DiGiCo (he's an early D5 adopter and part of the DiGiCo family). Collins says he wouldn't part with his trusty D5 until this tour. "She's been really good to me. Y'know? Obviously, I've grown up with the D5, so I was like, 'I'll just stay on my D5, thank you very much.' I wasn't ready to go to the SD7 until I knew we had the new racks... and honestly I couldn't justify going to an SD7 working with a four-piece (like Clapton) playing blues and such, you know? I mean, that thing can run a small country, can't it?! But for this tour, it seemed like it was time."
Monitor engineer Simon Higgs presides over the other SD7 at stage left, managing approximately 112 inputs for IEMs and such for the nine-piece band. He's also a veteran Who member, starting in '98 with Townshend on his Lifehouse project.